Climate Smart Agriculture Online Course Relaunches in Three New Languages

Following the success of the Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) "The Future of Farming: Exploring Climate Smart Agriculture" run by the CSA Booster at the University of Reading, which has already benefited thousands of participants throughout the world, the programme is set to go live again on 24 September 2018, but with a twist: it will be made available in three additional languages: Chinese, French, and German.

The course is now in its second year and we are keen to offer the programme to a wider audience for which language might be a barrier. By translating the material, it has also created an opportunity for project partners such as the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in France, or the South Pole Group in Switzerland to advertise the course across their own networks, making it more appealing to their audience.

Same Course, New Audience

The aim of the course is to provide audiences with high-quality information about climate change and how it affects farmers, agricultural systems, and ultimately issues such as food safety and food security. But the course goes further by raising awareness about the impact that the farming sector can have on climate change through its activities and greenhouse gas emissions. The course introduces the principles and benefits of CSA through two cases studies: dairy farming, which illustrates the opportunity for mitigation of the sector’s carbon footprint, and wine production, providing an example of adaptation to a changing environment.

Over three weeks of material, experts’ interviews, videos, and bespoke infographics, the course brings the students’ attention to the capabilities and the potential of CSA technologies, and offer as well the possibility to interact with instructors while the course is live. The course itself does not require any previous knowledge, and can be followed by anyone interested in lowering the climate impact of conventional food production, students of agricultural and environmental sciences, academics working in agricultural or environmental services, and technology developers and providers able to improve current agricultural practice. More generally, anyone interested in improving climate impact and resilience of modern food production whether already established in the business, looking for a new opportunity or considering a career in the industry; this can range from farmers and food producers to industry partners and even school teachers.

Going Further

We all consume agricultural products and since climate change is a concern for us all, the MOOC "Future of Farming" had naturally to extend its reach by going global as well!

You can already sign up here on Climate-KIC Education in Chinese, French or German, while the original English version can be found here on FutureLearn, and will run from the same date.